Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

Greencroft on target to become largest UK bottling operation

Published: 14 January, 2019

Major investment by Lanchester Wine Cellars in its bottling subsidiary Greencroft is to see production boosted from 100 million litres in 2018 to a capacity of between 3-400 million litres by early 2020.

Majestic wine sales fizz over Christmas

Published: 09 January, 2019

Majestic Wine enjoyed a merry Christmas despite the “challenging market backdrop”.

Majestic profits swing to a loss

Published: 22 November, 2018

Majestic Wine has reported a £200,000 pre-tax loss for the six months to 1 October, down from a £3.1million profit for the same period last year.

William Grant & Son reports strong growth

Published: 04 October, 2018

William Grant & Sons has reported strong profit growth of 12.6% to £250.2 million after tax for the year ended 31 December 2017.

Gusbourne reports ‘steady progress’

Published: 01 October, 2018

Gusbourne has said it is showing “steady progress” as it reported results for the six months ended 30 June 2018.

Fever-Tree continues to lead the premium pack by adapting to low-cal and dark spirit trends

Published: 13 March, 2018

Fever-Tree accounted for 91% of the value growth of all mixers on the UK’s retail shelves last year, as the UK-based company continues to lead the march of premium mixers.

Solid wine growth at Distell backed by R22 million investment to mitigate effects of drought

Published: 23 February, 2018

Distell Group’s results for the six months to 31 December 2018 report revenue up 9.3% on increased volumes of 3.7%, up to R13.4 billion (£828 million).

Naked Wines boosts Majestic half year performance

Published: 23 November, 2017

Majestic Wine said it is ready to “put our foot on the gas and accelerate growth” on unveiling its half year results today.

Strong FY17 results boosts acceleration at Pernod

Published: 31 August, 2017

Pernod Ricard, the world number two in spirits, has forecasted accelerated net profits for the current financial year thanks to a strong performance in 2016/2017.

Diageo follows-up strong interim results with 25% rise in operating profit

Published: 27 July, 2017

Diageo continues to accelerate in the fast lane by growing market share in both the on and off-trades in the UK over the past year.

UK drives growth for Fever-Tree

Published: 25 July, 2017

Leading premium mixer producer Fever-Tree has announced another strong set of half-year results, particularly in the UK market.

Sales almost double at Conviviality

Published: 25 May, 2017

Conviviality, the owner of Bargain Booze, has seen sales nearly double in the past year to pass the £1.5bn mark.

The independent alcohol wholesaler and distributor, which agreed a £60m deal to acquire wine, spirit and beer distributor Bibendum in May last year, said sales were up from £841m to £1.56bn in a trading statement released this morning (52 w/e to 30 April, 2017).

Net debt was £99 million – “comfortably below” Conviviality’s target, it said, adding the positive results were in line with the board’s expectations.

The integration of Bibendum, together with wine wholesaler Matthew Clark which it bought in 2015, was “progressing well”, said chief executive, Diana Hunter.

"Our focus will continue to be on improving the business and ensuring that benefits are realised from our greater scale, as we drive efficiencies for the group and greater service for our customers.”

Conviviality, which re-organised its activities into three business units during the year – Direct, Retail and Trading, reported growth for each, with sales up 6.4%, 6.1% and 1% respectively.

"We have come to the end of an unprecedented year of change and I am pleased to report a strong trading performance for the group and for each of its business units,” said Hunter.

Harpers Awards 2015 winners

Published: 29 September, 2015

The drinks industry's finest gathered at Vinopolis last night to celebrate a year of achievement across the on and off-trade.

Harpers Awards 2014 winners

Published: 03 June, 2014

The winners from #harpersawards 2014, see the pictures of the winners here.

Harpers Awards 2013 winners

Published: 21 May, 2013

The Harpers Awards 2013 took place in London last night and saw the great and the good of the trade turn out to celebrate the industry's successes of the past year.

Harpers Awards 2012 winners

Published: 23 May, 2012

Bibendum, Majestic, Sainsbury's, The Sampler, Tanner's, Jose Pizarro and Pollen Street Social were some of the big name winners at last night's inaugural Harpers Awards.